Onyonka insists on evidence, not talk, on JKIA lease

Kisii Senator Richard Onyonka. [Spice FM]

Kisii Senator, Richard Onyonka, has challenged the government to make public documents of an alleged planned lease of the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) to Indian conglomerate, Adani Group, through its subsidiary Adani Airports Holdings Limited.

According to Onyonka, the Senate has not received a response from the government in regard to his petition aiming to compel involved parties to declare the terms, and conditions, of the deal.

“I want President Ruto to give us the documents. That’s what the law says. There ought to have been a public participation involving all stakeholders. Kenyan employees might lose their jobs…and contrary to what the president has said, all airports are going to be managed by this company,” said Richard Onyonka while speaking to Spice FM on Monday, July 29.

“There is no need for the president to talk. Instead, we need to use relevant institutions to probe whether the claims are true,” he added.

Onyonka has insisted that Kenyans must be furnished with details of the company’s directors, its local registration status, proof of undertaking similar assignment anywhere else, the memorandum of understanding between the company and Kenyan government, and any other valuable information.

President William Ruto, while addressing a town hall meeting in Mombasa on Sunday, July 28, refuted the claims adding that Kenya is seeking a Public Private Partnership (PPP) arrangement for the upgrade of the ageing airport to enhance its competitiveness in the aviation market.

Ethiopia and Rwanda have constructed new airports thus threatening the position of JKIA which is still the region’s top facility.

“I’ve heard many people saying William Ruto wants to sell the airport. Am I a mad man? How do you sell a strategic national asset?” posed President Ruto.

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Senator Onyonka, the presumptive whistleblower, has attributed some concerned Kenyans who, he says, have supplied him with worrying evidence.

Preliminary reports indicate that Adani group intends to invest a sum of Sh 246 billion in the airport with its sight fixed on an 18 percent annual return rate over the thirty-year lease period.

Kenya Airports Authority (KAA), which manages JKIA, has confirmed receiving a proposal from Adani in which the Indian investor intends to construct a new passenger terminal, a second runway and refurbish other unspecified facilities within the airport.

“The proposal will be subjected to technical, financial and legal reviews alongside requisite due processes in compliance with the Public Private Partnership Act 2021,” said KAA Acting Managing Director Henry Ogoye.

KAA has also insisted that no jobs will be lost should the deal materialise.